When The Road Is Home
by Mitsukia-No-Hane
Summary: Having run away once from the only home she ever knew, and then again years later, can one girl fufill her destiny and, ultimatly, decide the fate of the whole world?
1. Prolouge

Prologue: Losing Home

Hey all you Pokemon lovers! Well, this is a bit of an old trick of mine, lets see if I can learn it again! Well, this is just the prologue but don't stop there! Read on, and be sure to review!

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I remember it well, much better then I'd like too. I remember Father, Mother, our little house on the hill, and even the smell of the house as I walked in from school. I remember Pooch, our pet Poochyena; and how much bigger he seemed back then, as he jumped up, his paws on my chest, as he attempted to lick my face each day. Those are the few good memories I have of the place I once called home.

But, as with most stories, there are many more bad elements then good, and, as in most stories, the bad elements are much more significant then the good ones. My bad element happened when I was 4 years old.

It was mid fall and the night was cool. A thin blanket of dead leaves, newly blown off the large tree in out yard by the gusts of wind, crunched and swished as the breeze went through it. I sat in the living room, on our soft tan carpet, playing with Pooch. I would throw his ball and he'd bring it back, it was a rather simple game as I look back on it now. Mother sat in the armchair; her feet in her warm house slippers, knitting a new blanket out of soft wool, and was now working on careful and precisely stitching a Bellossom into the pattern. Father sat on the couch, the newspaper open to the sports page, a cup of tea sitting on the coffee table in front of him and the sofa.

Suddenly, as if the glass illusion of peace had been sharply struck by some great force, the door slammed open and 5 men burst in, all clad in black uniforms with large red ' R's on their chests. Father stood, his hand going to his belt to grip Ursaring's pokeball, and Mother scooped me up and ran into the back room of the house.

" We're going to play Hide and Seek now dear, how would that be?" she said, keeping her voice completely calm, as if nothing of great importance was about to happen.

I nodded, to young to know that my mother had the ability to lie to me, and she put one of the coats that hang in the closet over my head, as if to hide me further from the Seekers, and put her fingers to her lips to shush me.

" Be a brave girl now, and be sure to stay quiet." She whispered, kissing my cheek before she shut the door to the closet.

Seconds, minutes, hours even, passed before all was quiet. All that long while I stayed silent, as mother had told me, determined to win our game of Hide and Seek. In the pocket of the coat that had been placed over my head I found a small top, with the design of a pokeball on the top and spun it around, seeing if I could balance it on my finger as it spun, and it helped to pass the time.

When I heard nothing but the occasional settling of the floorboards I opened the closet door and peeked out. The back room was empty, and so was the kitchen I found as I ventured further, ever cautious, into the silent house. One question rang through my head as I searched.

'Where were Mother and Father?'

As I opened the door to the living room, a feeling of sudden dread overwhelmed me and I froze for a moment, then shook my head to discard the feeling and opened the door. I wished I hadn't.

For there, on the floor, lay the bodies of Mother, Father, and even Pooch. Father's Ursaring and Mother's Nidorina lay on the floor at the far end of the room. The lily-shaped lamp that had stood on the small table beside the couch had been knocked off, as well as a few pictures and other trinkets in the apparent struggle. All of them were dead.

Uncontrollable shaking took hold of me, and my eyes widened, a scream seemingly lodged in my throat. I found myself running, as fast as my small legs could possible go, through the dark streets of the town, as far away from the house as I could get.

I never went back to that house, or that town, or anywhere near there. I feared what I would find if I did. Fortunately, or so it seemed back then, I was taken in by an orphanage just outside of the town of Whiteoak Town. And there I have stayed, or been forced to it now seems, ever since.

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Well, theres the Prologue! Hope you all enjoyed it! I'll probably upload Chapter 1 sometime today or tomorow, but theres no garuntee, so don't hold me to it! So go down their and click that reveiw button and send your reveiw! They will all be greatly appreciated!


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Dreams Of A World To Come

Hey y'all! Well, I don't have any reviews so far but oh well, as they say; persistence pays off, so I'll keep trucking if you keep reading! Well, enjoy, and when your done be sure to hit that little review button down there! And, obviously this chapter wasn't up the next day after the prologue like I said it would be but we can all blame a case of my PokeMuse being dead U. Gomen to everyone! Anyway, enjoy the new chapter (now twice the size of the previous chapter)!

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I wasn't able to see anything, anything at all, anywhere in that dark space of a dream. I'm not sure how I knew it was a dream, but somehow I did. I turned, looking in all directions for something that would give a hint as to where I was. There was nothing.

" You will be the one…"

I whirled around at the sound of that voice, but only the black darkness greeted my eyes. Fear, and at the same instant curiosity, grew inside of me.

" Who's there?" I asked, not expecting an answer of any sort, my voice echoing back to me off the unseen walls.

But, a mere moment after I had asked, the voice sounded again;

" You will be the one to save our world from death."

Suddenly the black space filled with light and before my eyes the light transformed into a lush, green meadow, filled with flowers. There were many pokemon in the meadow, all looking happy in their peaceful home. Then darkness, like a large wave, swept over the meadow, wilting the flowers and killing the grass the instant it made contact with them. The pokemon however, were effected in a much more severe way. Instead of dying as the grass and flowers had, their eyes glowed red and their faces twisted in rage and anger. In the place of the happiness that had been in their eyes a moment ago, bloodlust and hate bloomed. I gasped in fear, my eyes wide. What in the world was going on?!

" The darkness has tainted the hearts and minds of all pokemon that touch it, bending their wills and changing them. Only the Sacred Crystals can save us now." The voice explained.

" 'Sacred Crystals'? What do you mean?" I asked, having never heard of anything like the voice was talking about before.

" Yes, the Sacred Crystals, the sources of power for the legendary pokemon. Long ago were they sealed into the hearts of pokemon, and those pokemon given to the leaders of the gyms of the Rohen region."

" Well then why aren't the gym leaders doing anything?" I asked, wondering why _I _had to be the one to do something when the gym leaders where within 5 feet of these crystals.

" They cannot, the Crystals will not allow any one to touch them, and remain sealed inside the pokemons hearts. Only you can gather the gym badges, unlock the shrines and gather the Crystals together. Once this is done, take them to the Sacred Shrine on Northwall Island, and summon the power of the legendaries to push back this evil." Said the voice, as images of the places it spoke of flashed before me.

" Well why me?" I asked, the question I knew we an inevitable one.

" This evil has been foretold, and the one born under certain circumstances, at an exact time, the day the pokemon first came to this earth, will be chosen to carry out the duty of stopping the evil. This one is _you_."

I jerked awake, sitting bolt up in bed, shocked and at the same time frightened. Could any of that have been true?

" Melinda? What are you doing awake? Its only 2 in the morning." My roommate, Catherine said, checking the time on her digital clock on the nightstand.

Catherine Marie Henson was her full name, and she was one of the few, or the only, friends I ever had at that orphanage. All of the other children were snooty, seeming to think they were much better then me, when in reality we all had next to nothing. Catherine was the only one that realized that, and was the only one that ever even looked at me in my first few weeks there.

" N-nothing just can't sleep." I lied, hoping she was tired enough not to notice it.

But she wasn't, and she sat up in bed and turned the lamp that sat on her beside table on, her brow knitting in concern at the frightened expression that the light reveal to be on my face.

" You're lying, what's really wrong?" she asked.

I sighed, I had to tell her, even though I knew there was no possible way she, or anyone, could believe me.

" Well..." I began, trying to think of some answer that would avoid Catherine coming to the conclusion that I was totally insane, " I can't really explain why, but all I can say is that I have to collect all the gym badges."

She blinked at me in confusion for a few moments before speaking again.

" Why so suddenly? I mean, you've always liked pokemon, but what's with this sudden decision?"

" I can't say..."

Catherine paused at this, seemed to think about my answer. She then sighed and, throwing back the covers, got out of bed, went over to our closet and began rummaging around for something.

" Well, we always knew you were going to leave one day. Its fine that you can't say, I know you'll tell me later. But if you're going to get all the badges you're going to need a pokemon, and lots of other stuff to boot." She said, and pulled a pack out of the closet, tossing it to me.

We had put together this pack together when I'd first come up with the idea, some 4 or so years ago. It had been on a whim; neither of us thinking we'd even actually pull it out one day. On that day all the children had been given some money to go shopping in town with. Catherine and I had run straight to the nearest Poke' Mart and compiled all the things we thought one would need on their pokemon journey. But at that moment that day seemed so long ago.

" You actually kept this?" I asked, looking at the pack that had landed in my lap in slight disbelief.

" Sure, I don't even know why though." She admitted, smiling a bit sheepishly at me " Well, are you going or not?"

I nodded, knowing I couldn't have said no even if I'd wanted to. Going on a pokemon journey had always been a dream of mine, and I wasn't going to pass up the chance to fulfill that dream, even if it did included fulfilling some supposed destiny of mine.

I got out of my pajamas and pulled on a pair of old, worn jeans, a white t-shirt and, over that, a sleeveless, red, zip-up hoodie over it. I put on my best pair of walking sneakers and ran a brush through my long, light brown hair.

" Now you look like a real trainer." Catherine said, handing me my backpack and giving me a quick hug " So get out there and be the best in the world."

I hugged her back fiercely, knowing there was a good chance that I'd never see her again. Tears came to my eyes at the thought of leaving her, my only friend, alone here in that hell hole of a place.

" Thank you for everything." I said before letting her go, trying hard to smile through my tears.

A few minutes later I was out the window and walking down the long driveway, stopping to wave back to Catherine, the Lugia good luck charm she had given me clipped to my backpack. Then I was off, running down the driveway and into the forest, taking the shortcut to the main road. The road was long, about 10 miles south east, and led straight to Whiteoak Town. There, I would finally meet my future and, so I hoped, best friend, and first pokemon.

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I wasn't sure if I should end this chapter here, but it seemed like a good place. A few new characters are going to make their first appearances in the next chapter, so tell me what you think of them. Thanks to **Mugen No Ankoku** for reviewing! I've learned not to make promises on dates for the next chapter, so I'll just say its up when it's up. So scroll down a little, click that button and review! Feel free to submit ideas and any criticism, but please, no flames.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 3: New…_Everything_

Hello again everyone, and happy holidays to everyone. Hope you all had a nice Christmas and New Years. Though I haven't gotten loads of reviews, I know that somebody has to be reading this, so I've decided to try and continue. Its not easy, so any ideas, comments, or healthy critisism is greatly appreciated. A lot of new characters are going to appear in this chapter, so bear with me and enjoy the third installment of When The Road Is Home.

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I ended up stumbling around in the darkness of early morning for quite some time, since my sense of direction was horribly lax. After some thought, I discovered that I had never really developed one, since I had never been outside the orphanage save for a few occasions, and even those were very few and very far between. So, when Whiteoak Town finally came into view, I was in a slightly worse state then I had been when I left the orphanage.

As I stood at the edge of the forest, overlooking the small town before me, I took a moment to wonder. Did anyone besides Catherine know that I was gone yet? And if they did, did they even care? After a few moments in that train of thought I decided that I didn't care either way; I had already said goodbye to the only person that mattered, and promptly let the subject drop as I headed down the hillside and into town.

Whiteoak Town was small, and most of its citizens made their living by farming. Everything important to a trainer in Whiteoak (the PokeMart, Pokemon Center, and restaurants)was just off the main road, and everyone would tell you so if you asked for directions. I had the feeling, from the second that I walked into town, that it was an 'everybody knows everybody' kind of place. So I found the towns Pokemon expert, Professor Rosewood according a local woman I had asked, and her house with ease.

The house itself resembled a log cabin, only ten times bigger then any log cabin I had ever seen; so it was more of a log mansion. I took some time to admire it before walking up the steps and on to the wrap-around porch and knocking on the door. An elderly women opening it, squinted at me for a few moments before putting on her glasses, which hung from a gold chain around her neck.

" Oh, hello dear. Are you here to see Mrs. Rosewood?" she asked, then showed me into the house at my nod.

The inside of the house had the log-cabin feel to it as well, but, just like the outside, only ten times bigger. Directly through the door there was the living room to the left, a fire place, currently lit, against the wall of that room, and a staircase and what looked like a study to the right. Further in I spied the kitchen, dining room and den. Everything was either wall to wall carpeting or hard wood, and I guessed from the look of the place that Professor Rosewood did very well for herself.

" Ah, I thought I heard someone come in. You're a trainer aren't you? Well then, I guess you're looking for a pokemon." Said a women as she caught sight of me, walking out of the kitchen.

She was a tall women with a kind face, large green eyes behind her glasses and long dark hair. She wore the 'uniform' of all pokemon experts, a white lab coat over a pair of khaki pants, a red shirt and a pair of sensible brown shoes. I gave her my name and she gave me hers, identifying herself as Professor Rosewood, as she led me through a door and up some stairs into her lab.

Her lab was one large room with wall to wall white tile flooring. It smelled very much of a doctors office, and felt like one to, though was filled with a lot more gadgets and machines that any doctors office could every have. In the middle of the room was a stand with places for 6 pokeballs arranged in a circle. Though only one space was occupied with a pokeball.

" All of the other trainers came by a few days ago, so it seems you're a bit late. Though I still have this one left, but he's a bit odd." Professor Rosewood said, picking up the only pokeball left.

" What do you mean 'odd'?" I asked, wondering what sort of oddity this pokemon had that caused no one to picked this pokemon as there own.

" I guess it's better to show you." She said, pressing the button on the front of the pokeball to enlarge it and released the pokemon.

A bright flash of light erupted from the open ball and came to rest on the floor, slowly taking form and fading away. The light revealed a small, brown, fox-like creature with long ears and a large, fluffy tail. The creature itself was very small, about the size of a large rabbit, with large blue eyes. Though the color of its eyes wasn't the thing that surprised me. With the pokemon out in the open, I could see what the professor had meant by it being odd. Normal Eevees had a large white ring of fur around their necks, and the tips of their tails were white as well. But instead of white, this Eevees fur-ring and tail-tip were both pure silver. It shook the stiffness out of itself, from nose to tail, before looking all the way up at me with those big eyes, seeming curious about who I was.

" That's what I meant when I said it was odd. I've never seen those colorings on an Eevee before. I guess all the trainers thought It was bad luck to start off with an 'odd' pokemon." The professor explained, looking down at the little pokemon with a puzzled expression, "It's in perfect health, it's just its markings that catch people off-guard."

"I'll take it." I said without a second thought, picking the Eevee up to get a closer look at him.

The main reason that I didn't bother to think about it more was simply because there was no other pokemon left, so Eevee was the only choice I had. If I didn't take that Eevee then and there, then I probably would never get another pokemon. Plus, what's a little weird markings when you though about it? I figured that it made the little guy unique.

"Are you sure?" the professor asked, wanting to make sure that I wasn't just eager to make a decision and had jumped the gun.

" Yeah, I'm sure." I said, "Besides, you said that it's in perfect health, so there's nothing really wrong with it."

So, a few minutes later, I emerged from Professor Rosewood's house, new Eevee in hand. There was just one problem with the happy little picture, Eevee seemed so grateful that I had chosen it as my pokemon that I wouldn't stop trying to thank me for it, in its own special way.

First it walked along beside me, staring, seemingly unblinking, up at me with gratitude, and that in itself was annoyed. Then, after I chose to ignore its stares it assumed that I didn't see it, so it began trying to get my attention by bumping its head into my leg a few times a minute, effectively making me slowly drift to the left as I walked, trying to get away from it. Then, after I had bumped into several trees along the path away from Professor Rosewoods house and stubbed my toe on a rock because of it's pestering, Eevee started making the noise, figuring that I couldn't possibly be deaf as well as blind.

After a time, I figured out that Eevee made this noise when it wanted to get my immediate attention, but I hadn't figured that out yet. The noise was a sort of high-pitched squeak, made once every few seconds. After only about two minutes of this, as we were walking down the path away from the professors house, I was at my breaking point. I crouched down right in the middle of the path so I was closer to the pokemon and pointed at it, to make sure it knew who I was talking to.

"Look, Silver," I said, the Eevee cocking its head to the side at the nickname I had come up with for it, " _I know you're thankful, you don't have to remind me of it every five seconds!_"

Silver, totally ignoring the fact that I was extremely annoyed with it, rubbed its head against my finger, making purring noises as it did. My anger effectively dissolved, which I was sure was it's plan all along, I stood and sighed. I just couldn't stay angry with the little guy (though I had been told at the lab that this Eevee particular was infact female). I continued down the path, back to town, my new little friend trotting along beside me.

Once back in town, both Silver and I took the time I hadn't before to look around. Silver seemed especially fascinated and I guessed that, like me, as far as she remembered she hadn't ever been outside Professor Rosewood's yard. I suppose it was bound to happen, since I wasn't watching where I was going, and I bumped into someone, hard. Or they bumped into me, since they were running. In any case, it left me flat on my backside on the ground, wondering what had happened. Before I could figure it out someone grabbed my wrist.

" Come on. If you don't hurry up they'll catch you too." The persons voice said, pulling me to my feet and dragging me behind him. Only now could I see that this person was a boy. I could tell he was older then me just from his height, but I guessed it wasn't by much. As be yanked me into an alley and against the wall behind him, I noticed that his hair was short and the color of blood, a deep red. He watched as several people, police in fact, ran past the alley ( I assumed they had been chasing him), keeping quiet and still. Once he was sure they were gone he turned to me, his skin pale and his eyes were a pale green.

" Wait a minute…" I said, finally having enough time to put 2 and 2 together, " You're a criminal! And you dragged me into this!"

" Yes, I did." He said with the tone that he was surprised I didn't realize it earlier.

Meanwhile, I was surprised that he didn't deny it.

" Why?" I asked, seeing now that his reason for it before was completely unfounded, since I wasn't the one under arrest.

He seemed puzzled then, more with himself then with me, and he took a moment to think.

" Because I felt I had to" He said in a defensive way, since we both knew his answer was very vague and not the least bit helpful.

Now I was confused _and _doubting his sanity. What kind of person 'just feels' that they need to involve and innocent person in a crime? And what kind of person actually does it? I glanced back as Eevee pulled herself up onto my shoulder, having hung on to the bottom of my shirt during our sprint.

" Look," he said, taking me silence for anger "I'm sorry I dragged you into this, but you can't tell anyone you saw me. Here, I'll give you this is you keep quiet."

He'd reached into his pack while he spoke and pulled out a glass ball, the size of an orange. The only problem was, this glass ball seemed to be filled with flames. Yet, when he handed it over for me to examine, the glass itself was cool as the fire twisted and twirled inside it. The ball itself glowed with light that didn't seem to come from the fire, and it suddenly made me think of my dream, the reason why I was in the city with Silver in the first place. I had a small epiphany then; this glass ball was one of those crystals that the voice has talked about, the ones that could save the world. But I wasn't sure if this boy knew that.

" Yeah, I'll keep quiet. Thanks." I said, putting the Crystal safely into my pack, carefully to keep my tone void of the shock I felt at literally being handed one of the Crystals, by a crook no less!

He nodded and was about to turn and walk away, but he stopped just before he hit the mouth of the alley and turned his head back towards me, looking over his shoulder.

" My names Ace. I figure I can tell you since you promised not to say anything." He said, his face turning serious, "And just so you know, I'm not a criminal because I want to be."

With that he left the alley, disappearing into the crowd and walking away, no hint that he was the criminal running from the law he just said he was. Just before he left I saw him shake his head, muttering something about how he himself didn't understand why he'd told me all of what he'd told me. And, to tell the truth, neither did I.

I stayed in the alley however, a but surprised by what had just happened, and very curious about this Ace guy, wondering what he meant by his parting words and weither of not he was indeed sane. I thought, at that time, that I'd never get the chance to ask him. I was wrong.


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